Congressional candidate Kihuen wants focus on infrastructure

Nevada State Sen. Ruben Kihuen wants to focus on the infrastructure if he is elected to represent Nevada’s 4th Congressional District.

Kihuen said he will suggest investing in the infrastructure of the Nevada’s 4th Congressional District that encompasses Nye County, North Las Vegas and five rural counties.

“We have to invest in our roads, our bridges and our deteriorating buildings and that includes here in Pahrump,” he said.

Kihuen campaigns on increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, equal pay for equal work and college affordability.

“Those issues are near and dear to my heart. They are issues that I’ve campaigned on, that I’ve championed in Carson City,” he said.

For Kihuen, who was first elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2006 before running for the Nevada Senate in 2010, this will be the fifth election.

“I have the proven track record of getting things done,” Kihuen told the Pahrump Valley Times at the Roosevelt-Kennedy Democratic dinner. “My 10 years of legislative experience, I believe puts me in a good place to be able to win this race and be able to do the work on behalf of the people of Nevada.”

Kihuen said that Nevada public lands should be controlled by the federal government. He also spoke in support of renewable energy.

“I believe that that is one of the industries that can help us to diversify the state of Nevada that can help us to put people back to work and that can help us to clean our environment,” he said.

He also said he was opposed to Yucca Mountain.

“I don’t think we should be compromising our families’ safety in exchange for a dollar value,” he said.

Instead, Kihuen said there are other ways to create jobs in Nevada by focusing on renewable energy.

“We have to diversify our economy, including bringing those renewable energy projects here to Nevada, manufacturing jobs, invest in infrastructure,” he said.

Kihuen will compete in the June 14 primaries against former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, Las Vegas philanthropist Susie Lee and five other Democratic candidates.

The 4th Congressional District seat is currently held by Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-Nevada, who is running for re-election.

Kihuen’s campaign was endorsed by U.S. Senator Harry Reid and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman. He also received endorsements from 13 labor unions, including the Culinary Union that has close to 60,000 workers in southern Nevada.

On Tuesday, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in Nevada, a voluntary federation of 54 national and international labor unions, endorsed the Kihuen campaign at its state convention.

Kihuen said he will fight tooth and nail to protect unions.

“I want to continue this work in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “So, for me, these are not just talking points. For me, these are things that I’ve already accomplished.”

The 4th Congressional District had 134,395 active Democratic voters at the end of March, according to the Nevada Secretary of State. Nye County accounts for 7,254 of those active voters.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77